Boston Jacky
Boston Jacky is the eleventh book in the Bloody Jack series, and was released on September 10, 2013. It accounts Jacky's return to Boston and her attempts to straighten things out with Faber Shipping , keep away from the law, and reunite with Jaimy. Plot Synopsis The novel opens with Jacky Faber arriving in Boston after having left Gibraltar on the Margaret Todd ''at the end of ''Viva Jacquelina. Immediately she discovers that her favorite tavern, the Pig and Whistle, has been shut down, and outside is a parade of women demanding women's rights - one of them being Jacky's good friend, Amy Trevelyne. Amy and Jacky share a happy reunion and Jacky goes to reunite with the staff of Faber Shipping and many of her friends, including Ezra Pickering. When she goes out to lunch with Amy, Ezra, and Chloe Cantrell, she learns that Jaimy Fletcher is on his way to Boston and that many of the people of Boston are becoming very angry with the loads of Irishmen that Faber Shipping is importing in on the Lorelei Lee. Many of the Irishmen who have been transported on the Lorelei Lee also aren't paying their dues to Faber Shipping, and have joined up with a gang led by Pigger O'Toole, a former resident of Cheapside. Jacky pays a visit to Pigger O'Toole to try to get the Irish to pay their dues, to no avail. Jacky buys the Pig and Whistle property with Faber Shipping's money. She gets the tavern back into business and decides to turn the barn on the property into the Emerald Playhouse. She also purchases a new building for the offices of Faber Shipping; the first floor has offices, the second floor has apartments for Faber Shipping staff and others, and the third floor is Jacky's art studio. Ezra has become worried about Faber Shipping's finances, as Jacky has a habit of spending money excessively, but Jacky promises that the Pig and Whistle will make up for the money she has spent. Jacky visits Arthur McBride in his firehouse, where he is the leader of his own gang of Irishmen: the Shamrock Hose, Ladder, and Pump Company. There she meets Molly Malone, Arthur's mistress, who she instantly befriends. While she is there, an alarm goes off - a house with Shamrock insurance is on fire. The Shamrock Hose, Ladder, and Pump Company sets out to put out the fire, and Jacky and Molly come along. At the burning house, the company puts out the fire rescues the mother and daughter living there, and Jacky rescues their dog. There Jacky meets Pyro Johnny, the lunatic of Pigger O'Toole's gang who sets fires throughout the town. At Dovecote, Jacky plays a prank on Amy by hanging up her nude painting (painted by Amadeo Romaro in Viva Jacquelina) and Amy tells her of how she has joined the Boston Army for Women's Suffrage. Clarissa Worthington Howe and Lissette, two of Jacky's classmates at the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls, visit Jacky at the Pig and Whistle and Jacky shows them a rehearsal of In the Belly of the Bloodhound at the Emerald Playhouse, a play written by Amy about the girls' ordeal in In the Belly of the Bloodhound. The girls then go to the Lawson Peabody for their graduation, and Jacky is pleasently surprised when Mistress Pimm gives her a diploma as well. Having used up an awful lot of money in an awfully short time, Ezra informs Jacky of the position of Faber Shipping and tells her about the embargo that is in effect prohibiting the trade with any port allied with Britain. Jacky and the crew of the Nancy B. Alsop head off for New Orleans, where they are shipping girls from Mrs. Bodeen's brothel. While they are down south, Jacky plans to pick up the gold that she had hidden off the western tip of Key West in Rapture of the Deep. When they are just about to leave, Clarissa appears on the dock, saying she needs to hide from her father, and Jacky hires her as Second Cook's Helper. While the Nancy B. ''is heading for Louisiana, Jaimy arrives in Boston, disguised as a hunchback, and begins to set up House of Chen Shipping headquarters. In New Orleans, Jacky delivers the girls to the House of the Rising Sun and drops Clarissa off as well, into the care of Mam'selle Claudelle. Next stop is the wreck of the ''Santa Magdalena, where Jacky and Joannie Nichols dive down to retrieve the gold as well as a chest of the jewels, some of which Jacky distributes to her crew. Then the Nancy B. ''stops in Havana to attend the wedding of John Tinker and Concepcion Maria Constanza Mendoza. Tink has become engaged to a Jamaican girl, and after the wedding, Tink decides to stay in Havana to spend time with his new wife. They finally return to New Orleans to pick up Clarissa and the shipment of girls they are taking to Boston, and Jacky finds Clarissa horribly filled with many different kinds of drugs. Once she is revived, Clarissa admits to Jacky that she doesn't want all the rich finery that she has, and merely wants the kind of freedom Jacky enjoys. On the way back to Boston, the ''Nancy B. Alsop ''runs into Flaco Jimenez's ship and saves it in a small sea battle. Flaco shows interest in Clarissa, but their meeting is cut short when the ''Chesapeake ''arrives. The ''Cheapeake ''crew inspects Jacky's ship, and Randall Trevelyne reunites with Jacky and Clarissa. Clarissa seems to still be angry about how Jacky ruined her and Randall’s marriage in ''Curse of the Blue Tattoo, and she tells Jacky, “And remember, Jacky, I do owe you one in the game of love, and someday I mean to collect.” In Boston, Jaimy has rented an apartment at Faber Shipping and is eager for Jacky's return, but his feelings are turned sour when he discovers Jacky's nude painting in her art studio. This is the last straw, and Jaimy vows that he will put Jacky out of his mind. The Nancy B. Alsop ''returns to Boston, (where, to Jacky's dismay, she does not find Jaimy) and the Emerald Playhouse is thriving with rehearsals of ''In the Belly of the Bloodhound, where Clarissa has been cast as herself. At Dovecote, Amy tells Jacky that she has also joined the Committee On Women's Suffrage, or the COWS. While she is heading to the Pig and Whistle with Arthur, Jacky passes the "Hunchback" (really Jaimy in disguise) but does not recognize who he is. Jacky is lounging on the balcony above the Pig and Whistle with Clarissa, Joannie, and Ravi when the COWS march by, including Amy and some other Lawson Peabody girls. They stop outside the Pig and Whistle and their leader, Mother Shinn, insults Jacky by calling her a strumpet and threatens to close down the Pig. Jacky responds by mooing and mocking the committee. The COWS leave, but Amy faces Jacky, infuriated that she has made an enemy of Mother Shinn. Amy decides to return to Dovecote and wishes Jacky a good life, leaving Jacky in dismay as her friend leaves. During the performance of The Villain Pursues Constant Maiden ''in the Emerald Playhouse revue one night, starring Clarissa as Prudence Goodheart, Clarissa’s father rises from the audience and publically disowns her in the scene when her dress is ripped away. Immediately afterwards the COWS attack the actors by throwing vegetables at them. Jacky and her friends join in the fight, and Clarissa is arrested. Constable Wiggins tries to grab Jacky, but the “Hunchback” trips him with his staff, allowing Ezra to help Jacky make an escape. The next morning, Ezra has helped Clarissa at her trial, but when they return to the Pig and Whistle, Constable Wiggins gives Jacky an order to appear in court to decide if she is a “negligent guardian as regards to the child Joan Nichols and an unfit mother as regards the child Ravi”, both of whom had been sent away. Ezra and Jacky go to visit Joannie at the Boston Asylum for Females, and then see Ravi at the Reformatory for Stubborn Boys, where he has already been beaten up. When Jacky is performing a set at the Pig and Whistle, the “Hunchback” asks her to sing the ballad ''John Reilly, a song about a girl who refuses to marry a man because she is dedicated to her John Reilly, until the man tells her that he is her John Reilly. Jacky, however, doesn’t catch the hint. Suddenly a member of Arthur’s gang announces there is a fire by the docks, so the Shamrock Hose, Ladder, and Fire Company heads down there with Jacky and Molly in tow. The burning building does not have insurance for any of the three fire companies in the town, so Arthur, Pigger O’Toole, and the Sons of Boston Fire House and Pump argue for who gets to put out the fire. The building burns down before anyone can do anything. At that moment, the Lorelei Lee ''arrives at the docks with a new batch of Irish immigrants. A battle starts between the Irishmen and the American residents of Boston, and Jacky ends it by threatening Captain Warren, the leader of the Sons of Boston Fire House and Pump. In the mayhem Pyro Johnny almost sets the ''Lorelei Lee ''on fire, but the “Hunchback” catches him before he has a chance. As the mayhem subsides, Jacky gets the chance to reunite with Liam Delaney, Ian and Mairead McConnaughey, and John Higgins. To stop any more trouble, the staff of Faber Shipping decides to bring in one last load of Irishmen to New York rather than Boston, and then cease bringing any more over. Jacky goes to the courtroom with Ezra and notices that at midday, Judge Thwackham goes to his private chambers to have lunch. During an early performance of ''In the Belly of the Bloodhound, the Chesapeake ''returns to Boston, as well as a ship from Rangoon. Jacky demands for the captain of Charlie Chen’s vessel, ''La Ciudad de Lisbon, to tell her what’s happened to Jaimy, but he sends her away with a letter from Chopstick Charlie. Jacky later bursts into the House of Chen Headquarters to talk to “Mr. Tong”, the Hunchback, and inquires if he knows anything about where Jaimy is, but the “Hunchback” tells her he doesn’t know anything and would tell her if he did. Jacky decides to get revenge on Pigger O’Toole, and drops a box with some of her purple mushroom mixture (which she had first made in Viva Jacquelina) outside his headquarters. Jaimy has decided to give Jacky one last chance, and sends her a letter asking her to meet him. Jacky receives news from Ezra that Pigger O’Toole and his mistress, Glory Wholey, were found naked and making out just outside the Old South Church, and were both sent away to insane asylums, as well as Pyro Johnny – indicating they had drank Jacky’s potion. Jacky opens up Jaimy’s letter, but inside is simply an advertisement for House of Chen, and she tosses it out. When Jacky doesn't show up, Jaimy decides he won't wait for her any longer and makes plans to leave for England. The next day is Jacky’s hearing. Beforehand, Jacky sneaks into Judge Thwackham’s chambers and pours some of her purple mushroom mixture into his tea. Jacky is worried at first, not seeing any chance in the judge’s behavior, but soon he begins to act strangely and even sends away Attorney Brown, claiming he is a baboon. Ezra and Jacky escape as the courtroom turns into madness, Joannie now in Mistress Pimm’s custody, but Ravi still at the reformatory. Jacky decides to help Ravi escape, and asks the “Hunchback” for the help of Ganju Thapa and his Gurkhas, and the “Hunchback” asks to come along. The Gurkhas, the “Hunchback”, Arthur, Joannie, and Jacky head to the Reformatory for Stubborn Boys and after pulling down the gate and the “Hunchback” knocking out the guard, the Gurkhas head in to retrieve Ravi, and Arthur, Joannie, Jacky, and the “Hunchback” return home. Soon the Gurkhas return with Ravi and two other boys, and Jacky decides to hire all three as ship’s boys on the Lorelei Lee. On the way home, she is captured by Constable Wiggins. After being held in jail for the night, Jacky goes to her trial, where she is being convicted of witchcraft, after having drugged Pigger O’Toole and Judge Thwackham. It is presided by a new judge, Judge Tragg, as Judge Thwackham has left for a long rest by the shore. She is given a bail of two hundred dollars, but since she is returning after her suspended sentence of twelve lashes if she were ever to appear in this court again (given in Curse of the Blue Tattoo), the sentence must be carried out and Jacky must be whipped. Ready to leave, Jaimy hears of this, and goes to save Jacky one last time. On the way to the courthouse, Jaimy runs into Randall Trevelyne and his squadron of U.S. Marines. Randall sees through Jaimy’s disguise, but they agree to go save Jacky together. Outside the courthouse, the “Hunchback” and Randall’s squadron approach where Jacky is tied up, ready to be whipped by Constable Wiggins, and Randall announces that he must take Jacky into custody, for she has violated the Embargo Act. Judge Tragg decides that Jacky will still be beaten, and afterwards she will be taken into custody. However, Wiggins is nowhere to be seen, as he has been captured by the Gurkhas after being hit by the staff of the “Hunchback”. Someone is needed to beat Jacky, so Ezra volunteers the “Hunchback”. The “Hunchback” begins to beat her with his staff, but at first he fakes it so Jacky doesn’t really get hurt, though she puts on a show to make it seem as if she does. But then he starts bringing his staff down for each of the men Jacky has chosen over Jaimy, until on the twelfth blow he says, “This last one, Jacky, is for me!” and shows Jacky who he is. Immediately Jaimy takes off for the harbor, and Jacky, still tied up, calls out for him fruitlessly. Ezra and Amy untie Jacky from the post and she runs to the harbor to catch Jaimy, but when she gets there he is already on the Cuidad de Lisbon and it is pulling away from the harbor. Jacky falls to her knees as Clarissa appears on deck and wraps her arm around Jaimy’s waist. 'Epilogue' The epilogue is a letter from Clarissa to Jacky, sent from the House of the Rising Sun and dated August 28, 1809, three and a half weeks after the end of the book. Clarissa tells Jacky how she got her revenge and confesses how it was she who removed Jaimy's letter and replaced it with an advertisement for House of Chen, keeping Jaimy and Jacky from reuniting and causing Jaimy to resent Jacky even more. She describes how she has not married Jaimy, who has returned to England, but is now residing at the House of the Rising Sun in New Orleans and has met some of Jacky's "friends", including Flaco Jimenez and the Lafitte brothers. She comments that "I think he still loves you, poor man". Clarissa ends the letter by writing, "Till later, Jacky. Keep well. I do love you, you know, in my own way. I used to think you were something nasty stuck to the bottom of my shoe, but I have changed my mind on that. Since you have come into my life, you have been ever so much fun." Category:Books